What does demon possession mean to you?

[Shadow Wolf]

Funny, I thought I already did....please pay attention.

God explains everything in the Bible.....you should read it sometime.

He doesn't explain if it's ok for us to learn multiple languages or not, as according to the Bible it was intentional and deliberate that we couldn't communicate with foreign languages for a reason.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

He doesn't explain if it's ok for us to learn multiple languages or not, as according to the Bible it was intentional and deliberate that we couldn't communicate with foreign languages for a reason.

I believe in God, but I am open to the possibility that I could be wrong or wrong in my interpretation. There are many that are closed to that possibility and sit righteously on the pillars of their own interpretation as the "only" interpretation. They love to write volumes of how they look down on all the rest of us sadly, knowing we are doomed and it is our own fault.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

There have been a number of times I have seen something flying that I could not readily identify. In two instances, I still have no explanation for what I saw. In one instance, my father, brother and I watched what appeared to be an early evening star--just a pinprick of light fixed in the darkening sky. We watched it for some time and then it suddenly flew straight away. Maybe it was an alien spacecraft. I cannot say it absolutely was not. I cannot say it wasn't evil sky fairies either. But there are much more likely explanations for it. The most plausible being some sort of man made aircraft.

I have to admit UFOs are a tricky one for me, as there have been a few of them I've seen that I can explain in no greater depth than unknown and unidentifiable (at least to me, from my perspective). One that really stands out to me is many years ago a friend and I were sitting outside at night, and saw something very large and bright streak across the sky, and we thought for sure it would make impact, but it didn't. Something that matched the same description was sighted I believe in Maine a few days later. No explanations from me or the news source I read about the other sighting in.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I have to admit UFOs are a tricky one for me, as there have been a few of them I've seen that I can explain in no greater depth than unknown and unidentifiable (at least to me, from my perspective). One that really stands out to me is many years ago a friend and I were sitting outside at night, and saw something very large and bright streak across the sky, and we thought for sure it would make impact, but it didn't. Something that matched the same description was sighted I believe in Maine a few days later. No explanations from me or the news source I read about the other sighting in.

While there may be reasonable explanations, some things defy it for many reasons. Lack of information is the main one. The fact of the possibility of other life and that it could achieve a level of technology to come visit certainly fuels the imagination and promotes a lot of desire. Admittedly, it is knowledge of that possibility that creates a hope within me for alien contact. But obviously not to the point where I would immediately leap to certain answers or that those answers were true above all others merely on my personal desire that they be so

There is much that we do not know about the universe and who knows what natural phenomena may exist that we are unable to easily interpret or explain.

It could even be that some of these are alien travelers using technology we have not dreamed of, but there is nothing to say that this is the case.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

I have to admit UFOs are a tricky one for me, as there have been a few of them I've seen that I can explain in no greater depth than unknown and unidentifiable (at least to me, from my perspective). One that really stands out to me is many years ago a friend and I were sitting outside at night, and saw something very large and bright streak across the sky, and we thought for sure it would make impact, but it didn't. Something that matched the same description was sighted I believe in Maine a few days later. No explanations from me or the news source I read about the other sighting in.

Like a lot of people, I am intrigued by these phenomena and see no reason not to be interested or that science could not be used in some way. They are just difficult to study easily, since they are unpredictable and nothing definitive is known. I have spent many hours hiking or doing something out in the woods and yet have never encountered Bigfoot or seen anything that I would attribute to Bigfoot. That does not mean that Bigfoot does not exist or that it cannot be studied. It just means that doing so is incredibly and frustratingly difficult.

 

[Deeje]

He doesn't explain if it's ok for us to learn multiple languages or not, as according to the Bible it was intentional and deliberate that we couldn't communicate with foreign languages for a reason.

The ability to speak multiple languages is nowhere condemned in scripture. Many of the Jews in Jesus' day spoke Hebrew and Koine Greek.

The desired result was accomplished when God confused the language of the tower builders at Babel...it forced the language groups to separate and move away to populate other parts of the earth as God had instructed, taking ideas that originated with Nimrod with them. This is why we see a common thread running through all the world's cultures and religions....including a flood story....they have a common source.

We remember that when it was necessary to spread the gospel in the first century, God gave Jesus' disciples the ability to speak in all the languages of the foreign visitors who had come to Jerusalem for the festival.
One's mother tongue is the language of the heart.
Today, the language barrier has been well and truly crossed thanks to technology.

The prophet Zephaniah foretold that God would cleanse the earth....he reports God as saying.....

9 For then I will change the language of the peoples to a pure language,
So that all of them may call on the name of Jehovah,
To serve him shoulder to shoulder.’" (Zephaniah 3:8-9)

God's people will then all speak one language......

This is how many languages our website caters to....click on "English" in the top right hand corner.
https://www.jw.org/en/

There are hundreds!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

including a flood story....they have a common source.

Flood stories are common because flood zones are common. And, also, Gilgamesh's flood pre-dates Noah's flood.

The ability to speak multiple languages is nowhere condemned in scripture.

Nor does it permit it after the Tower of Babylon. But why would god allow people to speak multiple languages if he didn't want them speaking of the Tower? That would seem to defeat the purpose. And why didn't it happen again when we went beyond the heavens?

 

[Deeje]

Flood stories are common because flood zones are common. And, also, Gilgamesh's flood pre-dates Noah's flood.

That is not provable.
The writer of Genesis did not need to draw upon any Babylonian legend because of the overlapping of life-spans of the generations after the flood.....the truth about it could easily have been handed down by Noah’s son Shem (who was an eyewitness) through just three human links to Moses, who was the writer of Genesis. Why would the Hebrews, who worshiped the same God as Noah, have needed to include an event of such importance in their history, if it wasn't true?

Other Bible writers also endorsed the Genesis account. For example, Isaiah and Ezekiel called attention to Noah and the Flood. (Isaiah 54:9; Ezekiel 14:14, 18, 20)
The apostles Peter and Paul made specific references to the Flood. (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5-6; Hebrews 11:7) And all these Bible writers, including Moses, were “inspired of God,” which gives us Bible believers assurance as to the truthfulness of their accounts. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Jesus Christ, too, acknowledged that the Genesis account as the truth. When speaking of the coming destruction of the present world system of things, he said: “For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away,” so it would be at the end of this current system. (Matthew 24:37-39) You can believe it or not.

Nor does it permit it after the Tower of Babylon. But why would god allow people to speak multiple languages if he didn't want them speaking of the Tower? That would seem to defeat the purpose.

I think you have that backwards.....he confused the language to break up their plans to stay and build their own empire with Nimrod as their leader, soon to be made the first human deity by his mother Semiramis.
The flood was a stop-gap measure, designed only to reset the timeline and slow things down to a more manageable pace, allowing God's purpose to be fulfilled.

And why didn't it happen again when we went beyond the heavens?

You'll have to explain that one.....

 

[Thief]

Nope. Volition is limited by a number of factors, such as intelligence and culture

volition requires....intelligence
culture is optional

the limitation?.....

 

[Thief]

I am still working that out.

you need freewill to do that

 

[Dan From Smithville]

you need freewill to do that

I hope so, but I am not completely convinced for either side of the argument yet.

 

[Thief]

I hope so, but I am not completely convinced for either side of the argument yet.

and whose will shall be applied ?

yours?

 

[Dan From Smithville]

you need freewill to do that

I was scratching Gus's back. Gus is a dog. I was reminded of the many times that I have scratched a dog on the back and their hind leg automatically starts moving in response. This does not appear to be an act of will. I have also watched dogs take actions that appear to be the result of a choice. There appear to be corollaries to my observations in the actions people take.

Could free will exist on one level and not on others? Are some actions uncontrolled and others controlled? Could compulsion and free will exist at the same time?

I do not know.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

and whose will shall be applied ?

yours?

Mine but that, by itself, is not evidence that I am acting freely. It seems like it should be, but is it?

 

[Thief]

Could free will exist on one level and not on others? Are some actions uncontrolled and others controlled? Could compulsion and free will exist at the same time?

I do not know.

you know.....yes you do
reflex compared to intention......you know

and getting married would be an example of both

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Flood stories are common because flood zones are common. And, also, Gilgamesh's flood pre-dates Noah's flood.

Nor does it permit it after the Tower of Babylon. But why would god allow people to speak multiple languages if he didn't want them speaking of the Tower? That would seem to defeat the purpose. And why didn't it happen again when we went beyond the heavens?

I can imagine the back-breaking rationalization you are going to get for bringing up the flood.

 

[Thief]

unless the object of your affection is a demon and you have been misled

heheheheh

 

[Dan From Smithville]

you know.....yes you do
reflex compared to intention......you know

and getting married would be an example of both

That is the way I see it, but it is another thing to demonstrate that sufficiently to support an argument. There exists the possibility that even this conversation is the unavoidable consequence of my wiring and not the exercise of free will.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That is not provable

The biblical Noah and the Gilgamesh myth

The Babylonian epic Gilgamesh was written around 2000 BCE and has survived in several versions. It predates the scriptural story. A tradition dates the revelation of the Bible to 2448 after creation, or about 1312 BCE. Scholars offer a date of around 1200 BCE.

You'll have to explain that one.....

God confused the languages because they were building a tower to the heavens. We have went beyond the heavens and into outer space. No one received any sort of divine punishment and the plans were not thwarted.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

The biblical Noah and the Gilgamesh myth


God confused the languages because they were building a tower to the heavens. We have went beyond the heavens and into outer space. No one received any sort of divine punishment and the plans were not thwarted.

Well, that is Satan that runs large corporations and big money. Satan runs the government and pharmaceutical companies with big money. It all goes back to fluoride in the water.